The subject matter disclosed herein relates to inspection systems and, more particularly, to embodiments of inspection systems that use light to operate a sensor.
Machines may exhibit abnormal behavior (e.g., excess vibration) during operation. Inspection systems can measure this abnormal behavior to provide an alarm or other indication of the abnormal behavior. For example, these inspection systems may deploy one or more sensors proximate the machine to determine an amount of vibration, movement, or other operational characteristic of the machine. The sensors provide signals to other components of the inspection system, which can process the signals and, in one example, display graphical representations of the data.
Many inspection systems use an electrical cable (e.g., copper cable, coaxial cable, etc.) to couple the sensor to components that operate the sensor and/or receive and process signals from the sensor. Signals that the electrical cables transmit, however, are susceptible to noise, interference, and other outside influences that can degrade and distort the signals. Moreover, these problems become more pronounced as the length of the electrical cable increases.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.